Sterile dressing and method of production thereof



u y 15, 9 H. G. FITZGERALD 3,455,438

STERILE DRESSING AND METHOD OF PRODUCTION THEREOF Filed March 6, 1968 mvsN-roe. H nmev 6. Firzazzm I .5 8! AM, MA MM United States Patent 3,455,438 STERILE DRESSING AND METHOD OF PRODUCTION THEREOF Harry G. Fitzgerald, Green Bay, Wis., assignor to Diana Manufacturing Company, Green Bay, Wis., a corporation of Delaware Filed Mar. 6, 1968, Ser. No. 710,912 Int. Cl. A611) 19/02 US. Cl. 206-63.2 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Folded dressings are entubed at spaced intervals in a moving web, the side margins of which are adhesively joined over the articles and crimped to make an outstanding fin. The tube is severed and flattened between successive dressings and its ends are closed with any kind of adhesive. Additional adhesive is applied transversely of each sealed end and the flattened and sealed ends are rolled over and again flattened in a drug fold.

The sealed package is then autoclaved with wet steam under partial vacuum at approximately 250 F. for approximately one and one-half to two hours. The cooled package is not only completely and permanently sterile but airand watertight.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION Previously known procedures for the manufacture of sterile O.B. pads, dressings and the like have resulted in the production of packages which are materially longer than the package herein disclosed and are therefore more expensive to ship and to store. Also, the prior art packages have been less dependably and permanently sterile than that herein disclosed.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION The invention contemplates the compact folding of the OB. pad dressings or other article to be packaged and sterilized. It is important to the present invention to use a long fin seal throughout the length of the web in which the articles are entubed in mutually spaced relation. Third, it becomes very important to have the ends of the package closed with a so-called drug fold which is a double fold using, for purposes of the present invention, a waterproof adhesive. Finally, despite the fact that ordinary paper was employed for the wrapper and such paper is not, in the first instance, either airtight or watertight, nevertheless autoclaving with wet steam leaves a package of the type herein disclosed airtight and watertight and permanently sterile. According to experience to date, this permanent sterility is dependable in the package disclosed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of a complete package made in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view diagrammatically illustrating the entubing of successive articles in a web of wrapping paper or other material such as film or foil or composite package materials which has been provided with strips of adhesive where it is to be sealed.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary detail view in perspective showing how the end of the entubed wrapper appears when severed, portions being broken away to show the adhesive.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary detail view taken in perspective on the line 4-4 of FIG. 1 showing the drug fold as completed.

FIG. 5 is a detail view taken in section on the line 55 of FIG. 1, the entubed article being shown diagrammatically in section.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Successive articles such as dressings or O.B. pads 10 which have been folded over compactly to reduce their length are placed at spaced intervals upon a web 12 of paper wrapping material which has been provided with strips 14 of adhesive. There are many known procedures for applying the adhesive. It can besprayed onto the web, or placed on the web by roller coating, or applied with a brush or, as in the preferred practice, can be printed onto the web. As already indicated, the adhesive should be waterproof when dry. A hot-melt polyethylene adhesive is a preferred example but there are many others that are suitable.

In practice, the operations shown in FIG. 2 are performed with the web inverted over the dressings 10. The parts are diagrammatically shown right-side-up for convenience of illustration. It will be noted that the margins 15 with coatings 14 and 16 are drawn together around the pad 10 to effect the entubing thereof. As the entubing progresses, the margins are held at right angles to the face of the web and brought into contact to join the adhesive coatings 14. The rolls 20 force these surfaces together and preferably crimp them somewhat to form a fin 22 which initially extends upwardly at right angles to the tube for the full length thereof.

As the web advances, tucking blades 24 move toward each other from the sides of the web to form the tucks 26 between the entubed dressings. These tucks permit the tube to be flattened as best shown at 28 in FIG. 3. The flattening forces into contact the surfaces which carry a strip of adhesive at 16, whereby the tube is completely closed between the successive articles 10.

Intermediate the width of the wrapper portions joined by the strip of adhesive 16, the tube is now severed on the broken line shown at 30 in FIG. 2. Each severing operation will leave one pad completely sealed into a section of the entubing wrapper.

The fin 22 resulting from the joining of the margins 15 is folded down flat against the face 32 of the package. Additional adhesive is then applied as shown at 34 and a double fold or drug fold is made to force the severed end 36 over onto the adhesive-coated face 38 of the package as clearly shown in FIG. 4.

This completes the package up to the point of sterilization.

Thereafter the completely sealed package is subjected to wet steam autoclaving at approximately 250 F. for one and one-half to two hours. The autoclaving is generally conventional and thus needs no illustration or description. It is done in partial vacuum with the result that air sealed within the package is withdrawn through the damp wrapper. Following autoclaving it will be found that the dry wrapper has become airand water-tight and will remain permanently sterile until opened for use.

I claim:

1. A sterile dressing package comprising a compact sterile dressing and a wrapper in which said dressing is sealed, said wrapper comprising a web in which the dressing is entubed, said web having intermediate areas free of adhesive and upon which said dressing is disposed, said web further having strips of adhesive extending transversely across its ends and adhesively treated side marginal portions joined in face contact as a fin longitudinally of the web and in adhesively sealed connection with each other, the ends of said wrapper beyond the dressing having flat portions in adhesively sealed multiple fold connection and constituting drug fold closures for the ends of the wrapper, the wrapper being of a material vapor-permeable when Wet and substantially airand vapor-proof when dry.

2. A sterile dressing package according to claim 1 in which the dressing comprises an O.B. pad having its own wrapper with projecting ends folded upon the pad, the said fin being folded down upon the web in which the dressing is entubed and the ends of said web having lateral tucks where the web is flattened beyond the ends of the dressmg.

3. A dressing according to claim 1 in which each end of the Web in which the dressing is entubed has its said flat portion provided with a first fold upon itself and with a. second fold in which all of the wrapper Web in which the first fold is encompassed is folded bodily upon the fiat portion of the web and has an adhesive connecting it therewith.

4. A method of producing a sterile dressing, which method consists in the steps of applying adhesive strips along the side edges of an elongated web and applying adhesive in bands transversely of said web at longitudinally spaced intervals, entubing the dressing/adhesive-free portions of said web between said strips and bands, longitudinally and transversely sealing the web about the dressing, and further Sealing the ends of the web with a double glued fold at each end.

5. A method according to claim 4 in which the step of entubing the dressing and sealing the web includes drawing the sides of the web snugly about the dressing and attaching marginal portions of said sides in face contact with each other in a fin fold extending longitudinally of the web.

6. A method according to claim 5 in which a plurality of dressings are entubed in mutually spaced positions between successive bands in the Web, the fin fold extending across the series of such entubed dressings, the Web being flattened between entubed dressings and sealed across each of the respective bands and thereupon severed between the sides of said bands to provide sealed portions of the web projecting beyond each dressing entubed therein, forming the double glued folds extending transversely of the web as drug folds on each said projecting portion thereof, and tucking inwardly side portions of the web between the drug folds and the entubed dressings.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS JAMES B. MARBERT, Primary Examiner 

